US Attorney General Loretta Lynch visited Baltimore and promised support to both police and the local community after last week’s riot resulted in emergency measures, a curfew and heavy National Guard presence.

Lynch also promised the Department of Justice would provide
assistance in addressing “systematic issues” with the Baltimore
PD, after Gray’s death in police custody resulted in criminal
charges against six officers and raised serious concerns about
police misconduct.

“We're here to hold your hands and provide support," she
said.

The DOJ has already announced it would conduct a civil rights
inquiry into Gray’s death and send additional officials to
Baltimore to help ease tensions between the community and police.

The country’s top law enforcement official and the first
African-American woman to hold the post, Lynch was sworn in on
the same day the protest in Baltimore boiled over into violence,
just hours after Gray’s funeral.

Lynch’s first stop was University of Baltimore, where she had a
private meeting with the family of Freddie Gray, the 25-year-old
man whose improper arrest and death in police custody set off the
current turmoil

“This is a flashpoint situation,” Lynch told local
officials and the media after the meeting. “We lost a young
man's life and it begins to represent so many things.”

Later in the day, Lynch met with local religious leaders and
legislators. Among those present were Reverend Donte Hickman,
whose church lost a senior center under construction during the
riot on April 27, and Congressman Elijah Cummings (D-MD), who
spent much of last week on the streets keeping the protests
peaceful.

At the meeting with members of the Baltimore Police Department,
Lynch called them “the hardest-working police officers in
America,” reported The Hill.

“To all of you on the front lines, I want to thank you,”
she said. “You really have become the face of law
enforcement.”

Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights
Division, and Ronald Davis, director of Justice's Community
Oriented Policing Services (COPS) office, accompanied Lynch on
the trip; her first venture out of Washington since taking
office.

On April 12, six
Baltimore PD officers arrested Gray, 25, because he ran away from
them after “making eye contact.” Later that day he was admitted
to the hospital with his spine severed at the neck. After a week
in a coma, Gray passed away. On the day of his funeral, clashes
between riot-geared police and high-school students in West
Baltimore escalated into a full-blown riot.

Hundreds have been arrested, while the mayor of Baltimore
established a curfew that was eventually lifted on May 3.
Maryland’s governor declared a state of emergency and called in
the National Guard. Protests continued until the state attorney
general pressed charges against the six officers.